20 Candles
by Dlbn
Summary: Wishful thinking. That's all it was.


Disclaimer: I own NOTHING but plot. Everyone and everything else is canon to Loveless and thus owned by Yun Kouga. I make NO money off writing in this category.

Dedication: Goodbye Uncle Ralph, who passed away yesterday. I didn't know him all that well (not sure we ever met, really). Still sad. He's with my mom and aunt now.

Dedication 2: Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope 2017 is better than 2016!

000

 **Aoyagi Ritsuka**

It felt foolish, he had to admit, that he was lighting a candle for New Years and wishing for things. The gathering in the park was meant for this; where people would light candles and float them onto the little lake and make a wish. It was said that doing so would make your wildest dreams come true. His dreams weren't _wild_ per say, but he knew that making a _wish_ wasn't going to fix things. A _wish_ wasn't going to make Soubi change his mind about serving Seimei and come back. Only Soubi's will and love for Ritsuka, if it was real that is, could do that. Nothing could break the bond between a master and a Sacrifice; not even a wish. A _wish_ wasn't going to make Seimei abandon his plans and come home to explain himself. A _wish_ wasn't going to make Seimei right in the head again. His plans for conquest and domination and destruction of anyone that got in his way weren't just going to disappear because of a candle on a lake and the wish of a twelve-year-old boy. Yet, he did so anyway with his friends; knowing they could never understand the impossibility of a wordless _wish_ in the dark.

 **Hawatari Yuiko**

Closing her eyes and smiling as she prepared to make a wish, it hit Yuiko that she just didn't know what to wish for. Should she wish for Ritsuka-kun to be happy? Ritsuka-kun wouldn't be happy until Soubi-san came back. He was probably already wishing for that. Should she wish for her former friends to see the wrongdoing in their ways and change? No, that wouldn't work. She knew they were all stubborn; set in their way of thinking and anger at her for befriending Ritsuka-kun over them. What about Yayoi-san? Should she wish _he_ was happy? No, he couldn't be truly happy unless he was illness free and she was his girlfriend. But she wasn't ready for that! And she wasn't a doctor. She couldn't take his illness away. It would be cruel to wish for such a thing; to waste a wish on the impossible. Maybe she should wish for Sensei to be happy. She was always so nervous and scared; easily intimidated by the Sagan twins. Then again, it would take mountains to change those two! No, she should wish for herself, right? Was that selfish? To wish for herself? With a smile and a sigh of determination, she wished for the impossible.

 **Shioiri Yayoi**

Look at her. Just look at her in the pale moonlight and the gentle glow of paper lanterns hung up around the park and candles floating on the water. Yuiko didn't know what a beauty she was; what a beauty he saw every time he looked into her bright blue eyes, at her angelic face. She was the first person to have ever been _nice_ to him and worried about him when he didn't come to school for days at a time. Sure, she was childish and naïve, and in love with someone else, but that didn't bother him. he knew one day he'd win her over. But as he watched her laugh and smile at Ritsuka, he knew she'd never go for a guy like him. She liked Ritsuka. Someone who _wasn't_ sick. Someone who _didn't_ pine over her the way he did every day of his life. He was so strong and confident and resilient…and Yayoi was not. Yuiko loved everything he could never be. With a heavy heart and a barely concealed tear, he made a wish and set his candle into the water. Impossible or not, it wouldn't hurt to try.

 **Sagan Natsuo and Sagan Yoji**

They'd made a pact to make a _single_ wish this year. After all, two people wishing for the same thing made the wish that much _stronger_ , right? They had everything they needed and wanted, so why bother wasting two wishes? They could just pick something they _both_ wanted. It had taken a lot of consideration and thinking on their part, something that was rare for the twins outside of battle and the occasional plot or errand from Nagisa-sensei. But they'd finally figured out what they wanted, what they missed the most. One piece of their family was gone. Before they knew Soubi and Ritsuka, they hadn't needed anyone that wasn't themselves and occasionally sensei. Such was the life of a unit, of Zero. But there was just something about the un-bonded duo that drew them in. something that made them want to branch out and have _friends_. It wasn't because Natsuo thought Ritsuka was adorable or because Yoji admired Soubi's somewhat blind devotion to his Sacrifice. Soubi had defeated them, but he'd taken them in when they'd admitted they had nowhere to go. Ritsuka didn't know them, but they talked like they were old friends from the moment they met. There was just _something_ about these two. And that was why their wish wasn't only for themselves, but for Ritsuka and Soubi too; for two souls destined to be together, but torn apart by fate.

 **Sagan Nagisa**

She would never admit it aloud, _never_ , but she sort of liked how it felt when Ritsu pulled her close. She hadn't felt his way since her sister was alive. Her sister, who had died from her own carelessness regarding screwing with Ritsu's feelings towards Soubi's foolish mother. For years, she'd blamed Ritsu for her death. If _he_ hadn't made Sane jealous, she wouldn't have stolen Agatsuma-sama's ring. If _he_ hadn't yelled at her for taking it, she wouldn't have thrown it in the school's lake that Nagisa was now standing near; alone with her thoughts and her New Year's candle. If _he_ hadn't ordered her to get it back and give it back to the sensei, she wouldn't have gone into the water and drowned…but over the years she'd come to realize that Sane's actions were her own; a direct result of her pathetic jealousy over Ritsu's love for another woman and her foolish spite at the other woman, who hadn't known that she'd offended. Once she realized that, things began to change. She began to _want_ to spend time with Ritsu, to _want_ to be a part of _his_ Septimal Moon for the rest of her life; his second command at his side. She began to _like_ being around him and working together. And the closer they got, the more she found she liked. She _liked_ how her heart tittered and tattered in her chest when he almost kissed her in the hospital after he'd lost his eyes. She _liked_ how her spine tingled in anticipation when he yelled at her or glared in her direction. She _liked_ working with him and fighting with him, she _liked_ irritating and pleasing him. She _liked_ everything about their relationship…well, maybe not everything. Why had he started to kiss her, then stopped? No one was interrupting them. There were no cameras around…so why…? Stupid Ritsu. Stupid, blind, selfish, ignorant, arrogant Ritsu. With a sigh and a shove, she released her candle into the night; a lone speck of light in an area encased in darkness.

 **Minami Ritsu**

He couldn't go to the lake; that was for certain. Either Yoji and Natsuo would pop out of nowhere and push him in since he couldn't see, or he'd miss where he was going and step into it. he wouldn't drown, of course not. He knew how to swim. But which direction was land and which direction was water was not a risk he wanted to take. That's why he sat on the floor in his bathroom, next to a bath tub filled with water and a bath bomb he had to take Nana's word for it as being a deep red, and a solitary electric candle in hand. A candle lit with real fire wasn't smart for a blind man. He swirled the water with his hand, enjoying the soothing sound of ripples as the water moved with him and fell back into place. What a sight…had he been able to see. In his mind's eye, he pictured a pool of red as dark as blood, as dark as the blood he was certain had dried on the floor where Seimei had attacked him those months ago. In his mind's eye, he pictured the bastard's eyeless skull floating in the water as he watched; brand new plum colored eyes glaring back at him from a disgusted reflection. He almost made himself throw up into the toilet on his other side. How sickening. Aoyagi was a monster, but not one he'd want to steal the eyes out of. He'd find his own. Somehow, someday. He gently set his candle on the water, smiling in relief when he didn't hear it plop right to the bottom. If only he was able to see the sight in front of him that he'd created.

 **Gomon Mikado and Fujiwara Tokino**

Another day, another year without Aoyagi Seimei's head on a _spike_. She wasn't hungry for revenge like her Fighter. She more so believed in poetic justice. Cutting _his_ hair, cutting _him_ the way _he_ cut her hair and hurt _her_. Stealing _his_ eyes the way _he_ stole Ritsu's. Pulling Ritsuka to her side and laughing in Seimei's face as his brother announced that he was joining Septimal Moon and _hated_ his own brother. Taking Soubi away and giving him away to Ritsuka…no, Soubi _deciding_ to abandon Seimei for Ritsuka, the way Seimei abandoned him for Nisei! How, how wondrous that would be! For Seimei's throne to crumble at his feet and his chest pieces to be taken off the board one by one until he was the only one left with nowhere to go would be _delicious_ in a way. Tokino couldn't agree less. He wanted the elder Aoyagi brother to hurt. He wouldn't go as far as to do unspeakable things to the demon like he had ordered his servant to do to Mikado; no, he wasn't a disgusting creature like that. He had morals and a sense of right and wrong; something Aoyagi Seimei was seemingly born _without_. He wanted to destroy his Fighter while their bond was still strong; for Seimei to feel the crippling pain in his very _soul_ , to feel his heart being ripped apart, to feel himself being _cut in half_. And then he'd end him. He'd let him wallow in pain and misery as he realized just how alone he truly was in this world, in their _fight_. Eye for an eye makes the world go blind. A phrase Ritsu knew all too well. Together, they set their candles on the lake and watched the twin flames float away into the night; side by side the way she and her Fighter would were. For eternity.

 **Aoyagi Seimei**

Why was he out here again? Oh, right, because the old woman and her foolish housekeeper had _insisted_ that he and his Fighters partake in this foolish candlelit tradition. Even when he was a child, still living home under his parents' roof at his precious Ritsuka's side, he knew it was ridiculous. But he'd out on a false smile and an air of believing if it made Ritsuka happy and kept those fools none the wiser. But now, without Ritsuka to save face for, there was no reason. Still, he'd oblige his hosts and do as they asked this once. His Fighters stood at his sides, both seeming as bored as he felt. He knew Akame didn't believe in it, as living with him for so long had led to Seimei knowing more about the raven haired male than he ever wanted or cared to know. But what about Agatsuma? The look of indifference on his face was one that Seimei knew all too well. It was a look that could only be broken by the strongest of emotions; pain, fear, anger…he'd only seen that mask shatter a few times. Once when he'd cut a little too deep, twice while he was carving his name into Soubi's flesh, three times when he announced his return in the school library, four times the day he came and took Soubi away from his brother. It wasn't easy to read Agatsuma, but that's what made him a good Fighter. Faceless could probably see through him, though they admitted to Akame that they couldn't see through Seimei himself. What an odd Unit they were. Then again, he always _was_ the exception to the rule. He wondered if Ritsuka was, too? Ah, Ritsuka. The little boy that was so much unalike him, yet so much like him. There were five years between them, but they were so much alike. Together, they could do great things. Great and _powerful_ things. _He_ was what Seimei needed to overthrow Septimal Moon. _He_ was what Seimei needed to take his place on the top of the world. Not these tools, these Fighters, these _pets_. They were merely tools he'd toss aside, one he'd loan to Ritsuka when he needed him, but nothing more. But Ritsuka? If Seimei was the King, then Ritsuka was the Queen. But…Ritsuka would never take him back now. Not after how he'd stolen Soubi away and shattered Ritsuka's heart. It broke his heart to hear the soul shattering cries of his baby brother, it broke his heart to see the tears staining his porcelain cheeks. It broke his heart to hurt Ritsuka…but it had to be done. He needed Loveless. And without his memories, Ritsuka couldn't be Loveless like he once was. Sure, that was Seimei's fault, but if neither Akame nor Agatsuma knew how to reverse the spell, and neither did Ritsu, actually, then he'd have to take matters into his own hands. Without _Soubi_ , Ritsuka would be alone. without _Soubi_ , Ritsuka wouldn't know love. Without _Soubi_ , Ritsuka could become the true _Loveless_ he was on the path to being two years ago before his memories went by the wayside. With a smirk, Seimei knew just what to wish for as he set his candle afloat. If anyone asked, he'd bullshit something. No one would ever know the dark thoughts coursing through his veins, carried into the night by a flickering light.

 **Kaido Kio**

Soubi had been gone three months now. Or was it four? Maybe five? Ah, he was never really good with keeping time. Ritsuka would probably know, but he felt like a creep trying to seek out a twelve-year-old child to ask where his _much_ older boyfriend went. Okay, that entire sentence was downright _creepy_ when he thought about it, but that's what it was. _Boyfriend._ Oh, years ago, how he'd long for Soubi to call him that. For Sou-chan to kick Seimei's abusive, unworthy ass to the curb and be with him. For their friendship to evolve to the next level. When Seimei died, he thought he'd have his chance. But then Ritsuka came along. He didn't hate the boy, not by a long shot, but he was _jealous_. Ha! Jealous of a twelve-year-old! Come on, Kio, how pathetic! Maybe instead of being jealous, you could be _happy_ that your best friend found someone he really loves, that treats him right. You could be _happy_ that Seimei was out of the picture. Even if another Aoyagi had taken his place, at least this one was kinder, gentler; a pacifist like Kio himself. Maybe instead of being _jealous_ , he could have realized sooner the way Akira looked at him when he thought no one was looking. He could have realized the way Akira went out of his way to help him with a project or walk him to his car when it rained and Kio had forgotten an umbrella, but he didn't. He could have realized that he had a chance at happiness a lot sooner. But while he had his happiness, he was still sad. Sad that Sou-chan was missing. Sad that he didn't know where he was and wasn't even given the right to know since _Seimei_ had made his presence known. Sad that while he found his happiness, poor little Ritsuka lost his. That was why he couldn't wish for himself this year. No, he had everything he ever wanted, except Sou-chan back. So instead, he sent a candle for Ritsuka, hoping a bit of its light would work magic in the boy's otherwise dark, tragic world.

 **Akame Nisei**

Seimei didn't _need_ another Fighter. He didn't _need_ Soubi. Soubi was just on loan from dumb old Ritsu while Seimei was busy looking for him. And now that he was here, Soubi could just _get lost_. But _**no**_ , Seimei _had_ to go back for the blonde. He _had_ to take him back and use him. He _had_ to drag that ball of misery into their otherwise happy little world! Well, maybe not happy. As Mimuro and Mei had both noted on multiple occasions, as had his brother the one time they'd met-even though he could no longer remember-they were almost always at one another's throats. Living together proved to be a bad idea, but working together wasn't. Nisei knew exactly what was expected of him and what he could and would do for Seimei. The answer was _everything_ , of course, but it didn't seem like his neko eared Sacrifice would do the same. Instead of _helping_ him the two times he'd really needed it, Seimei left him alone to let him suffer. But _Agatsuma_ , no _Agatsuma_ had Seimei at his side while fighting Moonless. _Agatsuma_ was permitted to talk down to him and tell him to take a nap while Seimei just _smirked_. One day, he'd make certain Agatsuma got his. Maybe it was selfish, maybe it was rude and crude. But so what? He wasn't a nice guy; he'd come to terms with that. Even if Mimuro wanted him to be, he never could be. Ah, Mimuro. His Sempai, his best friend, the closest thing he'd had to a relationship after that nameless broad he could barely remember that had taken his ears. Or he'd given them to her? He couldn't remember; he didn't care. He missed the naïve little Sacrifice, he had to admit. He missed his company, his laughs, and their almost daily post-school day trips to the local café for donuts and lattes to be eaten at Nisei's place while they gamed until the night grew dark and Sempai's mother's calls grew too frequent. They'd always tried to prolong their time together; to spend as much of it at one another's sides as possible. He gave Seimei a sideways glance that the Sacrifice didn't notice as they stood near the pond on the old woman's land. Mimuro was just a friend; his best friend, his only friend. Seimei was his Sacrifice. His master, his other half, the one he was destined to be with. But all Seimei cared about was Ritsuka. Disenchanted, Nisei left his candle where he stood and moped his way back into the house without being seen. No point in wishing on the impossible. The person he wanted, no the person he _needed_ to spend New Year's Eve with, making wishes and exchanging hugs and kisses, could never be by his side. All because he'd followed Seimei's order to tell him to get lost. Perfect.

 **Kimizuka Osamu**

Ritsuka was different. Not just because of the memory loss, no. He was still her best friend in there somewhere, even if the old version of that friend couldn't be found. But between the last time she saw him and the day she visited him and met Yuiko-chan, he'd changed again. He was open and smiling and _laughing_. With someone else. Someone who wasn't her. She wasn't certain _who_ she was more jealous of. The girl he spent almost all his time with, or the man who's mere mentioning caused him to blush. Whoever this mystery older man was-cool according to Yuiko and creepy according to Ritsuka. Though his blushes betrayed that-he made Ritsuka happy. But when she called him to check in a couple weeks ago, he wasn't so happy. Yuiko had said blondie had gone away, and that Ritsuka hadn't been happy since. They had new friends, but even they couldn't make Ritsuka smile or explain why. Whoever blondie was, she was going to send him to hell for hurting Ritsuka; a boy who's just started to recover from the pain of his brother's death.

 **Shinonome Hitomi**

So many cute couples sitting around the lake. So many children sending candles out with their parents, laughing and frolicking about the park in preparation for the night's fireworks displays. The sight made her heart swell, but also break. She longed for someone to call her own. She longed for a companion at her side to spend her life with. She longed for the happiness and joy she saw on young women when they walked hand in hand with their significant others, the happiness and joy of a woman as her man kissed her on the cheek or whispered sweet nothings into her ear. The closest thing she got to anything nice from a man was when Yoji told her that he thought she was nice but had to grow a backbone. And that wasn't even all that nice! And then before that there was Agatsuma-kun, Ritsuka-kun's friend. He was downright rude, but the mere thought of him made her blush. Then again, he'd oh so politely offered to protect her if she'd protect Ritsuka from his mother the last time she'd called to try and get some more information about the boy with the many injuries. But Agatsuma wasn't hers. Yoji was her student. She needed _someone_. She needed an _adult_ who could love her the way she wanted and needed to be loved. Though his heart was broken by the one he loved a few months ago, even her cousin was desperately in love with someone he was only half certain even loved him back. It was pathetic. Maybe it was pathetic to be wishing for love in a family where a lack of love seemed to run in their bloodline. Pathetic it might have been, but wishing couldn't make it any worse, right?

 **Nakano Yamato and Sakagami Koya**

A life with Koya. A life with Yamato. That's all they'd longer for since the day Nagisa introduced them to be paired up all those years ago. It seemed so long ago, but it was only five or six years. Five or six wonderful, magical, _perfect_ years. Well, okay, not always _perfect_ , t life wasn't _perfect_ , was it? Without her name, Yamato was certain Koya would be sent elsewhere to another Sacrifice. She was certain Nagisa would cast her aside. But she never could have predicted Koya snapping their cell phones in two and severing all ties with Nagisa for her. Severing all ties with the woman who had saved them, given them love and shelter and kindness until they were old enough to make it on their own. The very woman who had made their union possible in the first place. Out of love? Or out of desperation? Desperation to live life for themselves and not for what Nagisa told them they had to do. Desperation to be together and alone together all the time. Desperation to stay one no matter how hard fate tried to pull them apart. Neither were certain, but they were certain they were happier now. And that's all they ever wanted. For themselves, for Ritsuka and Soubi, for the male Zeroes they could see on the other side of the lake. Now they had their chance at being free. They could only _wish_ Nagisa never called upon them again to shatter their now peaceful _perfect_ world together.

 **Aoyagi Misaki**

She had two sons. Now she has none. Ritsuka left. Seimei left. Aidien left. Her perfect little family, what was once a perfect little family, was gone. And there was nothing she could do about it. Seimei _died_. Ritsuka was as _good_ as dead. Aidien was happy with _another woman_ and _her child_. He didn't need her. He should have taken that fake Ritsuka with him! She didn't need him! She didn't need any of them! She didn't need anyone! Not her family who shunned her for getting married and then pregnant so young. Not her unfaithful husband who abandoned her. Not her son that was stolen from her by fire, not her son that was stolen by this _fake_. She didn't need _any_ of them! She was on her own for so long, just adding people to the mix was stupid and downright selfish. She didn't need to drag them down with her, or her down with them; whichever way it was. She wasn't certain anymore. She was too far gone. But deep down, she loved her husband despite his ways. She loved her deceased son despite that he left her with that _fake_ and protected it while he was live. She loved her Ritsuka despite his loss of memory and new personality. She loved them all so much and it hurt, it just hurt _so much_ to have them all leave her the way everyone else did in her life. No one ever stayed. Not until she met Aidien, not until she had her boys. And then they left, too. Just like she feared they one day would. With a breath and a shove of a candle onto the water, Misaki prayed for her frayed world to return. Someday.

 **Kunugi Asitai**

It had bene over a decade since that fateful fight with the original Septimal Moon. Well, it was the second, but it was the one he knew growing up, so screw him on technicalities. It was over a decade since he last hear his Fighter's voice, since he last felt his Fighter's touch and seen his face. His Fighter, his lover, his partner, his _other half_. Sacrifices and Fighters didn't _always_ fall in love. It was a fluke that the female Zeroes, Ritsuka and Soubi, and himself and Mirai had. But they had, and now he was paying for it because of his desperate need for revenge. He sat at Mirai's bedside almost every day while he was in his coma, waiting, hoping, _praying_ for him to wake up. But that moment, that day never came. Insurance stopped paying, doctors wanted to pull the plugs. Ritsu's money kept the plugs in, kept the insurance off their backs. And Asitai's prayers kept him clinging to a thread. Maybe it was selfish, but damn it, he'd find a way to save his love, he would! That spell couldn't last forever, not with its caster dead, right? But a decade was a long time…How he longed to put up a Christmas tree, to exchange chocolates, to watch the fireworks and light a candle with the love of his life again. While he waited, placing an electric candle in Mirai's hands and setting a candle afloat in a sink full of water in a hospital room where the only sound was from beeping machines that kept his love alive would have to do. For now.

 **Saotome Nana**

She'd kept silent. She'd watched and waited in the shadows. She'd built up walls and cameras and challenges to keep out the people who were _not_ meant to be kept in. Yet they'd broken through. Yet they'd hurt the ones she'd loved. Yet she'd guided two boys through the dark, deserted school hallways to corner a violent sociopath she knew was capable of killing them with his mere _presence_ , just _hoping_ that Soubi would find him. just _hoping_ that Ritsuka's presence would be enough to make his brother let his guard down so that he could be captured. Yet he'd escaped. She'd set up _every safety precaution she could think of_ and it _still_ hadn't been enough. Ritsuka and Soubi _still_ had to fight Seimei's rather intimidating true Fighter. Ritsu _still_ lost his sight to Seimei's knife. Nagisa _still_ cried as her own love for the man she claimed to hate prevented her from being able to help him, medical training be damned. Seimei _still_ escaped into the night. They _still_ had to exchange Nisei for a civilian friend of Soubi's who had had _no right_ to be there that night in the first place. She'd done everything she could, and it _still_ wasn't enough. That was why, as she lamented her mistakes and flaws in her code, she wished he'd be stopped. She'd wished life to return to some sense of normalcy. After all, every little bit helped right? Even if it _was_ a wordless wish into the night.

 **Shinonome Mimuro**

They couldn't be friends anymore. Nisei was right, they couldn't. He had to protect Mei, Nisei had to protect _him_. But logic and Nisei _couldn't_ protect his heart as it shattered while Nisei walked away. Logic and Nisei _couldn't_ protect his heart as he regretted agreeing to Nisei's request of silence and no contact between them of any kind. Logic and Nisei _couldn't_ protect his heart as he regretted not pulling Nisei close one last time, not taking the last chance he had to tell the teen how he felt. He _screwed up_. _Big time_. And now he was paying for it. He'd pay for it every day of his _life_ until Nisei came back, if he ever did. He'd get tired of the silence and place desperate calls and send desperate texts and messages in their favorite online games. He'd get tired of waiting and escape into the night to go find Nisei and _bring him home_. Seimei be damned, logic be damned, _Nisei_ be damned! He couldn't go another day without the man that made his life bearable, made it worth living. So what if he was desperately and pathetically in love with someone that couldn't, _wouldn't_ ever love him back? All that mattered to him was that Nisei came home safe and that he could make good on the promise he was making as he made his wish. If Nisei came home, he'd make _certain_ the raven knew how he felt. That was a promise. Someone else had to hold up their end of the bargain.

 **Shikiko Kaido**

Her father was weak, pathetic. He was always caring about others, longing for more than his meager life was capable of giving him. She knew that from the start, long before she'd met her green haired father in person. As a male Kaido, his fate was handed to him on a silver platter and shoved down his throat when he was tossed out of the manor he'd grown up in and refused to leave. She'd been nothing more than an idea in her grandmother's mind at the time, but had she been alive to see it, she'd have chastised him for being pathetic, and having no dignity as he begged on his knees to come home. His father's fate was to leave, his fate was to leave. Such was the fate of _all_ Kaido men, no matter who they were. He could never understand. That was why he was weak! Even if he _could_ understand, he wouldn't try to! The truth would be too unbearable for him! He was a male Kaido! He was useless beyond his DNA and his ability to create children. She was just lucky she had been born female. She'd be the next matriarch of the family with no patriarch for hundreds of years. He was _lucky_ he was allowed to keep or even have the Kaido name in the first place. Yet, she pitied him. Never being able to understand, acknowledge, or handle his fate shackled him. His hatred and his anger kept up walls that kept him in Tokyo. His curiosity regarding a woman that looked so much like him and his desire for answers drew him back. But as with the day he was kicked out, he was turned away with nothing. She'd been gracious enough to allow him tea, as had her mother, but there was no need for much more. The Kaido family didn't need him. And yet, she almost wished he'd lived in the manor walls with her. She almost wished she'd had a father figure growing up the way girls in her private schools and tutoring groups did. They seemed to be alright after spending years around their fathers. Maybe she would have turned out alright, too, if she'd been permitted to be around him. With a sigh, she realized how pathetic she was as well. Almost as pathetic as the mans he shared half her DNA with; the man who didn't remember creating her or her birth. Pathetic, truly pathetic. Such was the fate of a Kaido. But she couldn't resent him, she really couldn't. There were answers she wanted that she would never get, as well. She could sympathize with him on some level. She wished for his health and safety. That his quest for answers wouldn't be the end to this, his miserable fate.

 **Hoturabi Mei**

Mimuro wasn't happy, and she hated it. how dare Akame break his heart like this? How dare he reduce her master, her best friend, into a sniveling, whimpering, pathetic pile of tears and snot with merely a few words and a few steps in the opposite direction? He claimed it was okay, that it was what he wanted, what they both wanted. She told him he was full of shit. She didn't care how mad he got, it was true. It was obvious how hurt he was by all of this. So why not admit it? Why not go out there and _find_ the bastard and make him come home? Tell him how you feel, Mimuro! Don't let the chance slip away again. Don't let him do this to you. You love him, right? So go out there and fight for him! But she knew he wouldn't. whether he wanted to admit it or not, deep down he was afraid of Aoyagi and what he would do if he got in the way. He couldn't step up to Aoyagi and demand Nisei back because doing so would force Seimei to sic Nisei on him. that wouldn't do. She could only hope, only wish, that he could find solace without the teenager. Maybe, just maybe, out of the corner of his eye, he'd catch the way Mei had been looking at him from the start. She knew in her heart it was just wishful thinking. But it was New Year's. Isn't that what it was all about?

 **Agatsuma Soubi**

Hell. That's where he was _convinced_ he was. Hell. A hell he'd chosen, more or less, but a hell he resented all the same. If it wasn't Ritsu, it was Seimei. If it wasn't Seimei, it was Ritsu. He couldn't win. No one ever treated him well, treated him like a person. No one but…Ritsuka…oh, his sweet, sweet, sweet, innocent little Ritsuka. The poor boy was heartbroken; he'd heard it in his sobs, in his pleas and his cries for Soubi to stay, to come back to him. he was as heartbroken as Soubi was. He was ripped away from the one person he loved more than anything in the world, all because he wasn't strong enough to resist the pull of their bond. He could have resisted Seimei, he could have at least tried! But no, he just walked off without a word, without a pause. Sure, he'd yelled at Seimei for hurting Ritsuka that way and making him hurt his love. But he could have done more than that, and he could have done it in Ritsuka's presence at least, so the boy would know he _gave_ a damn. But now Ritsuka probably hated him. He probably wanted him to go away the same way that Ritsu and Seimei had wanted. He probably didn't want anything to do with him now. The thought made his heart hurt and his chest ache. But he supposed he only brought it on himself. They weren't bonded all that well yet, though Ritsuka at least somewhat _knew_ how to sue their bond to contact him. he'd only done it once, so he probably didn't remember, but once was good enough. If only he'd made a move sooner. If only he'd told Ritsuka to mark him in a way that _wasn't_ just piercing his ear. But Ritsuka would never hurt him. he was calm and kind and gentle…but a Sharpie couldn't hurt. Neither could more permanent paint. But he'd been afraid of rejection, afraid of hurt and anger, and he'd ignored the pull in his heart to be named by the gentler of the Aoyagi Sacrifice brothers. Ironic how Loveless was so gentle and loving while Beloved was so rough and hateful. Despite his weakness and his fears about how Ritsuka felt about him now, he still wished to be set free by Seimei and sent back to Ritsuka. Back to the boy he would beg endlessly for forgiveness, even if his pleas fell on deaf ears and Ritsuka turned him away. He'd still watch over him, still be there whether the boy knew it or not, to protect him from all the anger and hurt and other Units in the world that would be all too willing to attack an unprepared, unpaired Sacrifice. He couldn't let Ritsuka get hurt. He wouldn't. not by anyone else. Not by Seimei, not be other Units, not by Septimal Moon, hell, not even by him. He only hoped the Zero boys were taking care of him back home until he could come back home. They'd give him a verbal lashing, no doubt, and he'd take in stride. He deserved it, he earned it. As everyone else went back inside the old lady's manor, he set his candle on the water and wished to be returned to his love. Unbeknownst to him, four hours away, a teenage boy was making the same request.


End file.
